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I have had a 16 month hiatus from kite aerial photography …. I’m happy to say “I’m Back”.

This first session of 2015 was actually a commission job and I’m not showing the client’s photos. The images I’ve put on my website are byproducts of the session resulting from the great location. Had there been time after the ‘job’ I would have done more shots of the bridge, the park and the Ottawa skyline. However, strong gusts kicked up that prevented me from doing more. Additional images from this session can be viewed on my website (link under the photograph).

The image here shows the Prince of Wales Railroad Bridge. There are two sections to the bridge. This is the section which goes from Lemieux Island at the bottom to the Quebec shore (Gatineau) to the left and top. The rail line runs approximately 200 metres on the eastern edge of the island and then there is a second section of bridge connecting the island to the Ontario shore (Ottawa). The bridge has been out of use for some time but is now under consideration as part of the developing LRT (Light Rail Transit) for the city.

Downtown Ottawa from Victoria Island. Parliament buildings on the left and the Supreme Court on the right with the semi-frozen Ottawa River below.

Back to the land of snow and ice after a wonderful month of February in Australia. Recently I have made a couple of attempts to KAP the Wakefield bridge without any success so a couple of weeks have elapsed without succeeding with any kite aerial photography. Finally a nice day arrived to do some work with the Parliament buildings and the still frozen landscape. Here are some of the shots from this session.

Britannia Water Purification Plant alongside the Ottawa River (left) and Mud Lake (right). In the distance on the left is downtown Ottawa.

The Ontario side of the Ottawa River at the Deschênes Rapids is the location of several features: the community of Britannia, the Britannia Water Purification Plant (serving the city of Ottawa), the Britannia Yacht Club, and Mud Lake which has become an urban wildlife watching location. Not too far upstream is Britannia Beach, a popular recreation area. The town of Deschênes, which shares the name with the rapids, is on the Quebec side of the river.

Deschenes Rapids in the Ottawa River. On the opposite side is the town of Deschenes, Quebec. This image is taken from the Ontario side. Shoreline trees are submerge during the spring high water levels.

Aerial photograph. Spencerville Mill. A heritage gristmill on the South Nation River in Spencerville, Ontario.

Spencerville is a small village in eastern Ontario, less than an hour’s drive from Ottawa. It is just north of Prescott and adjacent to Highway 416. It sits on the South Nation River.

I went to Spencerville for the first time about a month prior to this session. I was delivering three prints which I had entered in a juried photography competition/exhibit at the ArtScene Gallery located on Spencer Street (the main street) in Spencerville. Passing the Spencerville Mill, which I had checked out first on Google Earth, I decided that this was a good place for a KAP session. After the delivery I tried to fly my ROK but the wind was very strong and gusty (perfect direction though) so I had to abandon without having attached the camera.

When the photography show ended (I received 2nd place for Walk on the Beach by the way) I went back to retrieve my prints along with friend, and part-time KAP assistant, Ted Welch. You can barely make us out in the second image (and images 4 & 5 on my website), where Ted is playing with a resident’s dog. I believe the KAP assistant’s job description says “… while keeping distracting or dangerous interference away from the photographer”. The wind was much better this time except blowing from the south and parallel to the river which would have been my second favourite choice. Nevertheless the KAP session went ahead using my FLED kite and the results are quite worthwhile. There is another angle of the mill that I would like to try which requires wind from the west or alternatively getting access to private property on the opposite side of the river. The location also warrants summer and winter aerial photography.

Aerial photograph. Spencerville Mill. A heritage gristmill on the South Nation River in Spencerville, Ontario.

Aerial photograph. Countryside beside the South Nation River at Spencerville, Ontario.

These photographs were taken using a remote-controlled camera suspended below a kite line (Kite Aerial Photography – KAP).

Beechwood Cemetery is the National Cemetery of Canada. It is the National Military Cemetery and the RCMP National Memorial Cemetery with over 75,000 Canadians buried there. These include Canadian Forces Veterans, War Dead, RCMP members, Governors-General and Prime Ministers as well as everyday Canadian citizens.

Aerial Photograph. Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa.

Aerial Photograph. Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa.

These photographs were taken using a remote-controlled camera suspended below a kite line (Kite Aerial Photography – KAP).

I was looking for a park off the highway to eat a sandwich before continuing the drive home. I pulled off at Cabano, Québec, a town I had not previously visited. Although much of the signage reads Cabano, I have since discovered that the two villages of Cabano and Notre-Dame-du-Lac were merged in 2010 to become Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac. I found a very large park on the lakefront, Parc Clair Soleil, and had my lunch. At ground-level there were traces of snow and much brown dead-looking grass which might be less than inspiring to a snap-shooter on vacation but beyond that I saw a beautiful half-frozen lake, an intriguing small mountain on the other side of the lake, a lighthouse, a wonderful streaky sky, an interesting layout of storefronts and a park with plenty of room for kite-flyers to go wild. So, out came the gear and here are some of the better images from the session.